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LIBRARY OF vCOMGRESSr' 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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THE 



LINCOLN MONUIHENT, 



itl^ Snttsti'^tt0n$. 



BY 

Edwin S. Walker 



SFRINGFIELD, ILL. 
IfiTO. 



How to Reach the Monument. 



The Springfield City Railway Company runs elegant 
and commodious cars every twenty minutes, from the 
Public Square, and near the principal Hotels of Spring- 
field, to Oak Ridge Park, situated about two miles north 
of the city, from which it is 'but five minutes walk to 
to the Monument. Excursion and Pic Nic parties will 
find this Park fitted up with such means of recreation 
as to make it a most delightful retreat to all who may 
visit Oak Ridge Cemetery, and the Lincoln Monument. 



THE 



LINCOLN MONUMENT, 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. 



BY 



JEBWIN S. WAIiKER 






SPRINGFIELD, ILL. 

1879. 



ST' 



Copyright, 1879, 
By EDWIN S. WALKER. 




The Lincoln Monument. 



THE LINCOLN MONUMENT. 



TO the southward in Oak Ridge Cemetery, upon 
a beautiful rising headland, stands the lofty 
granite obelisk, which is at once the resting place 
and monument of our lamented President, Abraham 
Lincoln. To this shrine of patriotism through all 
the circling centuries of the unseen future, pilgrims 
will come from every land, to do honor to the mem- 
ory of one of the world's greatest benefactors. 

For such as may never enjoy that privilege, as 
well as to briefly record a chapter in the history of 
Oak Ridge Cemetery, which will forever render it 
one of the most noted cemeteries in America, the 
following sketch of the Monument is prepared. 

Soon after the death of President Lincoln, in 
April, 1865, a committee was chosen by the citizens 
of Springfield to make arrangements for the burial 
of all that was mortal of their former associate and il- 
lustrious fellow-citizen. Agreeable to the expressed 
desire of Mrs. Lincoln, the casket containing his 
remains was, on the 4th day of May, 1865, deposited 
in the public receiving tomb at Oak Ridge Ceme- 
tery. A cut of this tomb, as will be seen, adorns 
these pages. It is located at the foot of a gently 



6 The Lincoln Monument. 

sloping hill, about twenty rods to the north of the 
Monument, and from its sacred associations will, as 
long as it stands, continue to be an object of interest 
to every visitor. 

In May, 1865, the National Lincoln Monu- 
ment Association was formed, and incorporated 
under and in accordance with the laws of Illinois. 
The Board of Directors of this Association com- 
prised fifteen of the most prominent citizens of 
Springfield. It was dulv organized by the election 
of— ' 

Governor Richard J. Oglesby, President. 

Hon. Jesse K. Dubois, Vice-President. 

Clinton L. Conkling, Esq., Secretary. 

Hon. James H. Beveridge, Treasurer. 

In June, 1865, steps were taken towards the con- 
struction of a temporary tomb, in which to deposit 
the remains of President Lincoln, until the proposed 
Monument should be erected. This temporary tomb^ 
which stood ten or twelve rods to the northeast of 
the site of the Monument, was completed in 1865,^ 
and the casket containing the remains removed 
thereto, under the supervision of the Monument 
Association, by Thomas C. Smith, Esq., undertaker^ 
on the 21st day of December. 

The cut, which our engraver has made from a pho- 
tograph, is an excellent representation of this tomb 
as it stood for nearly six years, until the second re- 
moval of the casket was made, as before, under the 
direction of the Monument Association, by Thomas 
C. Smith, Esq., to the crypt of the monument, on the 



The Lincoln Monument. 



19th day of September, 1871. In grading the ground, 
this tomb, having served its purpose, was soon after- 
wards demolished. 

Funds having been contributed for the purpose, 
and plans perfected, the erection of the monument 
was commenced on the 9th day of September, 1869. 
The cap stone was placed in position on the 22nd 
day of May, 1871, and it was dedicated on the 15th 
day of October, 1874, with appropriate and impos- 
ing ceremonies. 

THE DEDICATION. 

As was befitting an occasion so intimately connected 
with the name and fame of his illustrious predecessor, 
the President of the United States came from the far 
distant capital, with thousands of his fellow-citizens, 
representing all parts of the Union, to do honor to 
the memory of him whose name is one of the few, 
the immortal names which were not born to die. 

The day was auspicious, one of the most beautiful 
days of autumn. The arrangements were in keep- 
ing with the solemn yet profoundly inspiring event. 
At ten o^clock a procession was formed on the Pub- 
lic Square, consisting of military companies, civic 
societies, and citizens, with Governor John L. Bev- 
eridge as Chief Marshal of the day. It marched 
through the principal streets of the city, which had 
been spanned with grand arches, decorated with au- 
tumn leaves in rich profusion, and with appropriate 
mottoes, and after making a detour past the humble 
home of Lincoln, the plain citizen who went forth to 



The Lincoln Monument. 



world-wide renown, reached Oak Ridge Cemetery, 
two miles away, where twenty thousand persons 
witnessed, or participated in the ceremonies of the 
dedication. 

After prayer by Bishop Wayman, of the African 
M. E. Church, the exercises commenced with a his- 
torical statement of the origin and progress of the 
Monument, which was read by Hon. Jesse K. Du- 
bois, acting President of the Lincoln Monument As- 
sociation. This was followed by an address by Hon. 
Richard J. Oglesby, which embraced, in grand review, 
the outlines of that remarkable life, so unique, so 
simple, so humble in origin, and so interwoven with 
our country^s glory, and the securing of liberty 
throughout the laud. The address was worthy alike 
of the memory of the martyred President, the story 
of whose life it told, and of his friend who told it 
without overstrained eulogy, and with simple justice 
to its illustrious subject. 

At the close of this address, the statue of Lincoln 
in bronze, which had lately been placed in position, 
was unveiled and greeted with enthusiasm by the 
vast multitude that thronged on every side. After 
a brief poem by James J. Lord, Esq., in which it 
was truly and beautifully said — 

"To deeds alone, 
A grateful people raise the historic stone, 

* * * -* * 

It is the past that consecrates to-day," 

President Grant delivered an address, one of the 
longest he ever attempted. He read from manuscript 
held in hand, and with almost blushing artlessness, 



10 The Lincoln Monument. 



and simplicity of manner, yet clearly and distinctly. 
The address will be read by our children in days yet 
far distant, in connection with Lincoln^s briefer and 
eloquent address at the dedication of the battle-field 
of Gettysburg, as a National Cemetery. The world 
will long remember what he said there, for it is as 
immortal as the English language. It was but the 
appreciative expression of truth by President Grant, 
when he said of Lincoln, " His faith in an allwise 
Providence directing our arms to this final result, 
was the faith of the Christian that his Redeemer 
liveth. * * * To know him personally was to 
love and respect him for his great qualities of heart 
and head, and for his patience and patriotism. * 
* * In his death the nation lost its greatest hero." 
These words were worthy alike of him whose Chris- 
tian, patriotic heroism they so beautifully describe, 
and of him who spake them, himself so distinguished 
in illustrious achievement, in securing the perpetuity 
of the Union. 

Following this address, Vice-President Wilson 
spoke very briefly, as did also Gen. Sherman, and 
Ex- Vice-President Colfax, at greater length, and 
with tender memories of him for whose loss the 
world stood in mourning. With the singing of the 
Doxology, "Praise God from whom all blessings 
flow," and a benediction by Rev. Albert Hale, the 
exercises closed, and the vast throng dispersed, 
nearly four hours having been occupied in the pro- 
gramme. 

In the evening all the principal streets of the city 
were splendidly illuminated. Meanwhile President 



The Lincoln Monument. 11 

Grant and Mrs. Grant, and Gen. Sherman, held a 
reception at the Executive Mansion of the State, 
which was attended by a vast throng, in which were 
distinguished officers of the government, both civil 
and military, including Generals McDowell, Custer, 
Pope, Ex-Secretary Borie, and Larkin G. Mead, 
the celebrated Vermont sculptor, who designed the 
Monument, and executed the noble and life-like 
statue of Lincoln, which adorns it. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE M01srUME:NrT. 

The Monument is, in its exterior, wholly of 
Quincy, Massachusetts, granite. It consists of a 
base about seventy feet square, with semi-circular 
extentions to the north and south, with about fifteen 
feet radius, the whole base rising to the height of 
sixteen feet from the ground, and forming a terrace, 
which is reached by four flights of granite steps. A 
heavy granite balustrade ascends with each stairway 
and extends around the terrace, forming a parapet. 
From the center of the terrace, standing upon deep 
foundations, rises the shaft twelve feet square at the 
top of the terrace, and eight feet square at the 
apex, which is one hundred feet from the ground. 
At each corner of the shaft a circular pedestal, ten 
feet in diameter, rises to the height of twelve feet. 
Two of these are surmounted by groups of statuary 
in bronze, one representing the Navy, and the other 
the Infantry; upon the other two pedestals will be 
placed groups representing the remaining two arms 
of the military service, — the Artillery and Cavalry. 



12 The Lincoln Monument. 



One of these will be completed and placed in position 
in 1880, the other in 1881. 

On the south side of the shaft a square pedestal, 
some six or seven feet in diameter, rises twenty feet 
above the terrace, and thirty-six feet aboye the 
ground. Upon this, facing southward, stands the 
bronze statue of Lincoln, eleven feet in height, and 
upon the face of the pedestal beneath the statue is 
the Coat-of-arms of the United States in bronze, while 
still beneath that is the name Lincoln, in large 
raised capitals, cut in the granite. The statue is, both 
in design and execution, alike successful as a true 
representation of the human form, and of the man 
whose image it was designed to hand down to future 
generations. It was erected at a cost of $13,700, 
having been designed by Mr. Mead, in Italy, and cast 
in bronze at Chicopee, Massachusetts. In the left 
hand, which is extended downward, and as though 
about to be presented to the bondmen, whose chains 
it broke, is a scroll on which the word Emancipa- 
tion is inscribed, whilst the right hand rests upon 
fasces, partially covered by the Banner of the Re- 
public, and at the foot of the fasces lies a laurel 
crown. Within the semi-circular extension of the 
terrace on the south is Memorial Hall, and within 
that on the north is the Catacomb. The latter 
consists of a semi-circular vestibule of about twelve 
feet radius, with arched ceiling, and marble floor, and 
five crypts at the rear, elevated three feet from the floor. 
In the vestibule, which is entered by a grated iron 
door, is an Italian marble Sarcophagus, which con- 
tains all that was mortal of Abraham Lincoln. 



The Lincoln Monument. 13 



Upon the end of this is a wreath of oak leaves, 
beautifully wrought, surrounding the name Lincoln, 
and outside the wreath the memorable words — 

" With Malice towards none, with Charity for all." 

Two crypts contain the remains of Mr. Lincoln's 
deceased children, and those yet unoccupied are de- 
signed for the remaining members of his family. 

Memorial Hall, oval in shape, twenty-four by 
thirty-two feet, with arched ceiling and marble floor, 
is finished on the sides, as is the vestibule of the 
Catacomb, in panels of Vermont marble. This is 
designed as a receptacle for any memorials of Mr. 
Lincoln. Among those already placed there is a 
block of stone taken from an ancient wall in Rome, 
which had been placed there by human hands more 
than two thousand four hundred years ago, during 
the reign of Servius Tullius. This block was sent 
to Mr. Lincoln by some Roman patriots, and at the 
time of his death it was lying in the basement of the 
Capital at Washington. The translation of the Latin 
inscription upon it is as follows : 



" To Abraham Lincoln, President for the second 
time of the American Republic, citizens of Rome pre- 
sent this stone from the wall of Servius Tullius, by 
which the memory of each of those brave asserters of 
liberty may be associated. Anno, 1865.'^ 



14 The Lincoln Monument. 



COST OF THE MONTTMENT. 

The total cost of the Monument was upwards of 
$200,000. Of this sum, $27,000 were contributed 
by soldiers and sailors in the United States service, 
$8,000 of it having been made up by colored soldiers. 
Sixty thousand Sunday School scholars contributed 
$20,000. The State of Illinois, in two appropria- 
tions, paid $77,000; the State of New York, $10,000; 
Missouri, $1,000 ; Nevada, $500. The balance was 
made up by voluntary contributions from public 
schools, churches, benevolent societies, and the 
masses of the American people. 

The engraving of the Monument presents a south- 
east perspective view; it is from a photograph by 
Pittman, the most perfect ever taken by any Artist. 

The structure is a fitting memorial of the great 
and good man whose mortal remains it encloses, 
and whose fame it serves to perpetuate. 

" Such was he, our Martyr-Chief, 

Whom late the Nation he had led, 

With ashes on her head, 
Wept with the passion of an angry grief: 
Forgive me, if from present things I turn 
To speak what in my heart will beat and burn, 
And hang my wreath on his world-honored urn. 

Nature, they say, doth dote. 

And cannot make a man 

Save on some worn-out plan, 

Repeating us by rote: 
For him her Old World moulds aside she threw. 

And, choosing sweet clay from the breast 
Of the unexhausted West. 
With stuff untainted shaped a hero new. 
Wise, steadfast in the strength of God, and true. 



The Lincoln Monument. 15 



How beautiful to see 
Once more a shepherd of mankind indeed, 
Who loved his charge, but never loved to lead; 
One whose meek flock the people joyed to be, 
Not lured by any cheat of birth. 
But by his clear-grained human worth. 
And brave old wisdom of sincerity! 

They knew that outward grace is dust; 
They could not choose but trust 
In that sure-footed mind's unfaltering skill, 

And supple-tempered will 
That bent like perfect steel to spring again and thrust. 
His was no lonely mountain-peak of mind, 
Thrusting to thin air o'er our cloudy bars, 
A sea-mark now, now lost in vapors blind; 
Broad prairie rather, genial, level-lined. 
Fruitful and friendly for all human kind, 
Yet also nigh to Heaven and loved of loftiest stars. 

Nothing of Europe here, 
Or, then, of Europe fronting mornward still, 
Ere any names of Serf or Peer 
Could Nature's equal scheme deface; 
Here was a type of the true elder race. 
And one of Plutarch's men talked with us face to face, 

I praise him not; it were too late; 
And some innative weakness there must be 
In him who condescends to victory 
Such as the Present gives, and cannot wait, 
Safe in himself as in a fate. 

So always firmly he: 
He knew to bide his time. 
And can his fame abide, 
Still patient in his simple faith sublime, 
Till the wise years decide. 
Great captains, with their guns and drums, 
Disturb our judgment for the hour, 
But at last silence comes; 
These all are gone, and, standing like a tower, 
Our children shall behold his fame. 

The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man. 
Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame. 
New birth of our new soil, the first American." 



16 The Lincoln Monument. 

board of directors of the monument 
association. 

Richard J. Oglesby, President. 

Shelby M. Cullom, Vice-President, 

Ozias M. Hatch, Secretary. 

James H. Beveridge, Treasurer. 
John T. Stuart, James C. Conkling, 

Orlin H. Miner, Jacob Bunn, 

John Williams, Milton Hay, 

John M. Palmer, Newton Bateman, 

Charles S. Zane, David L. Phillips, 

Samuel H. Treat. 

It is but justice to say that the work of erecting 
the Monument was done under the personal super- 
vision of the Executive Committee, appointed by the 
Board of Directors of the Monument Association. 
This Committee consisted of — 

Hon. John T. Stuart, Chairman. 
John Williams, Esq. 
Jacob Bunn, Esq. 

Mr. Stuart, the life-long, intimate friend of Mr. 
Lincoln, watched over the work with unstinted zeal, 
as it was to him a labor of love, and a service of 
honor to the memory of his illustrious friend. 

Hon. O. M. Hatch, as Secretary of the Board, and 
Hon. James H. Beveridge, Treasurer, rendered most 
efficient service in their respective departments, 
during the progress of the work to its completion. 



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